Impact of horticultural therapy on patients admitted to psychiatric wards, a randomised, controlled and open trial

Abstract

Abstract Psychiatric inpatients often endure anxiety. This randomized trial assessed the impact of horticultural therapy on anxiety in adult psychiatric inpatients over four weeks, compared to standard care. Recruiting 211 inpatients from six units were randomized into control (n = 105) and experimental (n = 106) groups. Control received usual care; the experimental group had horticultural therapy alongside usual care. Anxiety, measured using HADS-A scale at four weeks, aimed to establish horticultural therapy's superiority. After four weeks, horticultural therapy significantly reduced anxiety compared to standard care (P < 0.001). These results argue in favor of integrating horticultural therapy into psychiatric nursing practices. Trial registration: No Clinical Trail: NCT02666339 (1st registration: 28/01/2016).

Keywords

• Horticultural therapy
• Inpatients
• Nursing
• Psychiatry
• Psychological distress